Your Leg or Your Life: Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park

National Park After Dark

Danielle LaRock & Cassandra Yahnian

True Crime, Places & Travel, History, Society & Culture

4.6 • 5.8K Ratings

🗓️ 1 December 2025

⏱️ 78 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In November of 2024, 65 year-old Valdas Bieliauskas was on a rafting trip with a group of friends in the wilds of Tasmania when he did something we all have - he stumbled. But that trip landed him in an impossible situation. With his leg pinned between boulders in fast moving cold water, options were running out. A decision had to be made - a limb or his life. For a full list of our sources, visit http://npadpodcast.com/episodesFor the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials at: Instagram: @‌nationalparkafterdarkTikTok: @‌nationalparkafterdark Support the show by becoming an Outsider and receive ad free listening, bonus content and more on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. Want to see our faces? Catch full episodes on our YouTube Page! Thank you to the week’s partners!IQBAR: Text PARK to 64000 to get 20% off all IQBAR products and free shipping.Ollie: Take the guesswork out of your dog's well-being. Go to ollie.com/npad and use code npad to get 60% off your first box!Naked Wines: To get 6 bottles of wine for $39.99, head to NakedWines.com/NPAD and use code NPAD for both the code AND PASSWORD.Uncommon Goods: Use our link to get 15% off your next gift. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	People set off into nature for different reasons, searching for scenery or wildlife, a sunset, or an escape from cell service.
0:09.0	Some find what they're looking for. Others find more than they had expected.
0:14.0	If you look past the beautiful photos, there are stories of disaster.
0:18.0	Someone in the wrong place at the wrong time who got stranded or stuck.
0:23.9	You've likely heard the story of Aaron Ralston. After getting pinned by a rock during a climb in
0:29.2	southern Utah, stuck for five days, all on his own, he cut off his own arm in order to survive.
0:36.4	His story of survival became a nationwide hit. He wrote a book,
0:40.3	which became a movie, starring James Franco, called 127 hours. Stories like errands grab us because
0:47.4	how remarkable and unlikely they are. You're more likely to come across news of people who
0:52.8	didn't survive situations like that.
0:55.8	Over 200 people die in national parks every year, including people who got stuck, got lost,
1:02.2	or fell, and never came home.
1:04.8	So it's heartwarming to learn of a person who overcame incredible hardship, often at great expense, in order to survive.
1:13.5	But there's always a layer of intrigue to these stories too, a question that you can't help
1:19.0	but ask yourself. If I were in their shoes, could I have done that? What are my limits?
1:25.5	What would I be willing to endure?
1:31.4	What could I endure to save my own life?
1:36.3	Welcome to National Park After Dark. Welcome to National Park After Dark. We have a survival story today, which is my favorite.
2:00.9	I know. Tables have turned. Are you ready to hear a survival story today, which is my favorite. I know.
2:01.4	Tables have turned.
2:02.9	Are you ready to hear a survival story and not share one?
2:05.8	Yes.
	...

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